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Explore Goddard's world-renowned facilities and learn about the Center's exciting current and future missions. To schedule a tour, groups must submit a request for reservation at least a month in advance and there must be between 10 and 45 participants in a party. All attendees must be at least 10 years old. Programs can last from 2 to 4 hours.

To schedule your group’s tour, complete a reservation request. A visitor center specialist will contact you to confirm your request.

Aura Ozone Monitoring Garden

Do you know someone who has asthma or some kind of sensitivity to polluted air? Air quality is an issue that concerns everyone from lawmakers, to farmers, to families. One of the primary components of air quality is the amount of ozone found in the air we breathe (troposphere). While ozone in the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) protects life from harmful ultraviolet radiation, ozone in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) is a pollutant that damages plants and human lung tissue. NASA scientists study the health of our atmosphere through the use of the Earth Observing Satellite Aura. This program will describe and explain ozone chemistry, NASA’s Aura satellite, and plant biological response to ozone. Students will learn how to recognize ozone damage symptoms on plant leaves, how to estimate the amount of damage, and which plants are susceptible to ozone.

During this program for Grade 6-8 students, participants will learn about atmospheric chemistry, the relationship between ozone and human health, how plants serve as indicators of air quality, and NASA’s role in monitoring the health of the atmosphere.

Duration of the Aura Ozone Monitoring Garder in either 1 1/2 or 2 hours. Make reservations to participate in the program via our online form. Specify your preferred duration. In order to ensure a quality visit, educators requesting the Aura education program must complete two of the five pre-visit activities prior to the day of participation in the program.

Standards:

NSES Content Standard D
Earth and Space Science: Structure of the Earth system
Grades 5-8, page 160
The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations. Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather.

NSES Content Standard F
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Changes in environments
Grades 5-8, page 168
Human activities also can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes.
Causes of environmental degradation and resource depletion vary from region to region and from country to country.

Benchmark 4C The Physical Setting: Processes that Shape the Earth
Grades 6-8, page 73
Human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere, and intensive farming, have changed the earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere.